A user pairing method is proposed to improve the throughput gain of virtual multiple input multiple output (virtual MIMO) in 3G long-term evolution(LTE).The approach taken in this study separated the user pairing into four steps:1)the users are divided into two groups according to their signal-to-noise ratio(SNR),and different user pairing metrics are proposed for each group;2)the scheduler chooses a user for transmitting by a given rule;3)the scheduler searches the pairing candidate for the selected user in each group;4)the scheduler chooses the final pairing user from the co-group and crossover-group candidates by using a marginal utility function,to balance fairness and efficiency.The method can improve the throughput of users with high SNR,and guarantee fairness for users with low SNR,so it can be used in 3G LTE systems.The article provides both theoretical analysis and simulation results to support the idea. A user pairing method is proposed to improve the throughput gain of virtual multiple input multiple output (virtual MIMO) in 3G long-term evolution (LTE). The study took separated from the user pairing into four steps: 1) the users are 2) the scheduler chooses a user for transmitting by a given rule; 3) the scheduler searches the pairing candidate for the selected user in each group; 4) the scheduler chooses the final pairing user from the co-group and crossover-group candidates by using a marginal utility function, to balance fairness and efficiency. the method can improve the throughput of users with high SNR, and guarantee fairness for users with low SNR, so it can be used in 3G LTE systems. Article provides both theoretical analysis and simulation results to support the idea.